My husband and I are travelling to Kenya in late January 2008. We are visiting good friends who live in Nairobi and then hoping to go on a short (4 days) safari, then a few days on Lamu Island or Kiwayu. We are coming from the US, and this is our first time in Africa.

I've been reading so much useful information here, but most people go on longer trips. If you could only go to one or two reserves and you only had 4-5 days, what would you choose?

Some of the reserves that have appealed to us so far are Masai Mara, Amboseli, and Sweetwaters. We'd like to stay in luxury lodges or tented camps and go on private bush tours. We would like to avoid crowds and our main interest is in seeing and photographing wildlife, but not so interested in birds.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by all of the options right now...especially given our limited time there...so any recommendations on lodging, safari companies, and must-see places are welcome! Thank you!

In 2005 my wife and I went on a tour of Kenya and Tanzania, featuring safaris in both countries. You might get some tips from the descriptions and photos in the "Kenya & Tanzania" section of Our Travel Journals website: www.evcal.org .

From NBO, fly to Amboseli or Samburu for stay at Tortilis Camp (Amboseli) or Larsen's Camp (Samburu) for 2/nts.

Then fly to the Masai Mara for a 3/nt stay. In the Mara there are many choices for luxury camps and in January, the "where" isn't as crucial as during the migration period. You can consider camps such as: CCAs Bateleur, Olonana, Explorer, Naibor, Saruni, Richard's, Royal Mara... many others.

Your friends can probably arrange something for you thru an outfitter in Nairobi.

For maximum wildlife viewing, I'd do 2 nights Samburu and 3 in the Mara. There are a variety of accommodations for different budgets.

I just returned from a 10 night privte safari in Kenya with Naked Wilderness.com. I dealt online with Popsy who arranged everything I asked for promptly and carefully. Our guide Domenique was incredible. He was knowledgable, fun and so interested in getting us to see everything. The price was comparable to a tour group safari.

Bookmarking

Just got back from spending 3 days of a 2 1/2 week trip at a game lodge (Djuma Bush Lodge) in SA. It was the perfect amount of time, we saw everything we could hope to see! We both felt that to have stayed longer (especially in the same type setting/area)would have made us a bit numb to the animals(granted, we are not super-wild about animals-don't go to zoos, don't have photos of wildlife around the house). What I would say is that in 4 nights, two lodges in VERY different settings would be ideal.